Family
Rutaceae
Botanical Name
CITRUS reticulata 'Robinson'
Plant Common Name
Robinson Tangerine, Tangerine
General Description
Easy to peel and eat, tangerines delight children and adults alike. These small to medium-sized evergreen fruit trees have been grown for centuries and are highly prized by cultures across the world. Originating from southeastern Asia and the Philippines, they were eventually moved along Asian trade routes through to the Mediterranean and Europe. Between 1840 and 1850, plants were first brought to the United States via New Orleans and later shipped to Florida and California where many commercial groves exist today. Tangerines are also produced in large numbers in Mexico and shipped worldwide.
Tangerine trees have spreading, open crowns covered with glossy, elliptical, fragrant leaves with slightly winged stems and minute teeth along the edges. Flowers appear from very late winter to spring and may be single or clustered. In bud they are red or purple-hued and open to reveal white fragrant blooms that are highly attractive to honeybees, which produce honey.
The cultivar ‘Robinson’ is used mostly for commercial production. It produces fragrant, medium-sized, round fruit slightly flattened at the ends with slow-to-color red-orange skin. The flesh is orange with an excellent, sweet flavor and many seeds. The fruit ripens early in the season and should be harvested when ripe as it does not keep well on the tree. Medium-sized trees have long branches and bear the fruit at the ends of the branches. They are productive and alternate bearing, which means they produce a heavy crop one year and a lighter crop the next.
Cold sensitive, but more tolerant than other citrus, tangerines prefer locations with warm, dry winters, and cool summers. They require full sun and are tolerant of most soils, even poor soils, with ample drainage. Though moderately drought tolerant once established, they must have regular applications of water for good fruit production. Regular fertilization is also required as they are heavy feeders. Tangerine trees are smaller that other citrus, but still need plenty of space for their spreading crowns to grow. They are grafted on to rootstocks, which impart tolerances to soils, pests and climate conditions.
Robinson trees make good tub or conservatory specimens where not hardy and attract the North America giant swallowtail butterfly which uses this and other citrus as larval food.
